Day 13 - Tsukiji
Yet another rainy day in Tokyo but I only have a few days left here so I had better make a trip to Tsukiji rain or shine.
I braved the rush hour crowd with Neil.
Tsukiji fishmarket is the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world and also one of the largest wholesale food markets of any kind. The suprisingly unfishy-smelling expanse which sees 2000 metric tons of seafood pass through daily is not only a must see for a foodie in Japan but for anyone on a budget cos its free!
Being my 2nd trip to there(the 1st was on my earlier trip to Tokyo 4 years back) I couldnt help but realise that there was less variety of fish on display. Don't know if its cos of overfishing or probably cos I was late(it was almost 9am by the time I got there-some businesses were already done for the day) but there were still some curious looking seafood on sale.
As I left the huge seafood complex, I came across a not very environmentally friendly aspect of the Japanese obsession with freshness. I hope they recycle.
It was already 11am when i was done exploring and the next must-do when at Tsukiji is to lunch at one of the many shops there. I was thinking of having sushi but had plans to have sushi for dinner with Mariko and Neil so I had my favourite Japanese food which i havent really had since I got to Japan-Unagi!
The Unagi was melt in your mouth.
The owner of the establishment who was fluent in English, took it upon himself to teach me how to order food in Japanese and even wrote it down on a piece of paper (even though I was pretty happy pointing at plastic displays and pictures on menus) and went on to teach me other useful phrases.
After the much needed sustinance, I shopped around for foodstuff: bonito flakes, dried kelp, dried fishy snacks and even got a wasabi grater and a very sharp carbon steel knife(bad idea actually, later find out from neil that carbon steel rusts easily if not take care of properly).
A knife for every occasion
Urrgh.
I crossed over to Ginza and roamed around wondering what I should do the rest of the day. But first I had to take a dump. I saw the Sony building and realised that they should accomodate me since I have spent so much buying their products all these years. So I went in, smiled and made a beeline for the toilet, that came complete with built-in bidet. I came out a new man.
Flopping around in my flip-flops in the rain, I decide to go to the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography where I saw the World Press Photo exhibition and a retrospective of Issabela Huppert (The Piano Teacher, 8 Women) by a whole bunch of different photographers. I can really appreciate the fact that museum visitors in Japan keep extremly silent while viewing photos/works. Can't say the same for Singapore.
Time for dinner with Neil and Mariko where we had sushi back in Ginza, right across the road from Tsukiji. It was a pretty nice restaurant bur felt like such a slob dressed in bermudas and flip flops(i came dressed for rainy weather!) and was quite conscious of my smelly feet(imagine how they would have smelled if I wore shoes instead!) since we had to remove our footwear before sitting crosslegged at the table(uncomfortable after being on my feet all day). Mariko presented Neil and I with matching Jinbeis. Mebbe there will be a Japanese film festival in Singapore where I can wear it to.
Gorgeous starter of a crab jelly topped with salmon roe.
Sushi feast
I think this not unagi but anago... so decadent!
I had my 1st taste of natto...not as bad as I thought it would be, the consistency is similar to the sap from ladies fingers
As we said our goodbyes to Mariko and thanking her again for the Jinbeis and the best sushi that I have had, Neil made a bet with me that that i would be hungry again by the time I get back to the shoebox. And I did.
So it was greasy sauasage buns and beer to end the night...
I braved the rush hour crowd with Neil.
Tsukiji fishmarket is the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world and also one of the largest wholesale food markets of any kind. The suprisingly unfishy-smelling expanse which sees 2000 metric tons of seafood pass through daily is not only a must see for a foodie in Japan but for anyone on a budget cos its free!
Being my 2nd trip to there(the 1st was on my earlier trip to Tokyo 4 years back) I couldnt help but realise that there was less variety of fish on display. Don't know if its cos of overfishing or probably cos I was late(it was almost 9am by the time I got there-some businesses were already done for the day) but there were still some curious looking seafood on sale.
As I left the huge seafood complex, I came across a not very environmentally friendly aspect of the Japanese obsession with freshness. I hope they recycle.
It was already 11am when i was done exploring and the next must-do when at Tsukiji is to lunch at one of the many shops there. I was thinking of having sushi but had plans to have sushi for dinner with Mariko and Neil so I had my favourite Japanese food which i havent really had since I got to Japan-Unagi!
The Unagi was melt in your mouth.
The owner of the establishment who was fluent in English, took it upon himself to teach me how to order food in Japanese and even wrote it down on a piece of paper (even though I was pretty happy pointing at plastic displays and pictures on menus) and went on to teach me other useful phrases.
After the much needed sustinance, I shopped around for foodstuff: bonito flakes, dried kelp, dried fishy snacks and even got a wasabi grater and a very sharp carbon steel knife(bad idea actually, later find out from neil that carbon steel rusts easily if not take care of properly).
A knife for every occasion
Urrgh.
I crossed over to Ginza and roamed around wondering what I should do the rest of the day. But first I had to take a dump. I saw the Sony building and realised that they should accomodate me since I have spent so much buying their products all these years. So I went in, smiled and made a beeline for the toilet, that came complete with built-in bidet. I came out a new man.
Flopping around in my flip-flops in the rain, I decide to go to the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography where I saw the World Press Photo exhibition and a retrospective of Issabela Huppert (The Piano Teacher, 8 Women) by a whole bunch of different photographers. I can really appreciate the fact that museum visitors in Japan keep extremly silent while viewing photos/works. Can't say the same for Singapore.
Time for dinner with Neil and Mariko where we had sushi back in Ginza, right across the road from Tsukiji. It was a pretty nice restaurant bur felt like such a slob dressed in bermudas and flip flops(i came dressed for rainy weather!) and was quite conscious of my smelly feet(imagine how they would have smelled if I wore shoes instead!) since we had to remove our footwear before sitting crosslegged at the table(uncomfortable after being on my feet all day). Mariko presented Neil and I with matching Jinbeis. Mebbe there will be a Japanese film festival in Singapore where I can wear it to.
Gorgeous starter of a crab jelly topped with salmon roe.
Sushi feast
I think this not unagi but anago... so decadent!
I had my 1st taste of natto...not as bad as I thought it would be, the consistency is similar to the sap from ladies fingers
As we said our goodbyes to Mariko and thanking her again for the Jinbeis and the best sushi that I have had, Neil made a bet with me that that i would be hungry again by the time I get back to the shoebox. And I did.
So it was greasy sauasage buns and beer to end the night...
posted by Rajipoo at 11:50 PM
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